Ullock Mug Weekend Series

The glorious weather has returned to offer what must have been the best sailing day of the season so far, with blue skies and 20C SW winds. 18 boats raced in shifty (nothing new there), and sometimes gusty conditions.

The F15s had some good racing with Ian/Lezliann getting to grips with a new cut genoa that took a couple of laps to set correctly up the beats to get the edge over Tim/Ian and take the win. In the second race, Ian pushed his luck claiming water at mark 4 and ended up doing a couple of turns, then had to fight back to successfully take the lead and win the race.

There was mixed fortunes in the GPs with a relatively close finish in the first race, won by Val/Ken, with Mike/Eric 2nd. Not sure what happened in the second race, but the boats were considerably more spread out, with Mike winning, and Alan/Sue 2nd.

Beginner Jo was keen to get a sail, and unexpectedly ended up racing in two races with Robbie D in the handicap fleet. To her surprise, there were no bumps, capsizes, or broaches! However, she did experience a general recall in the first race, somewhat unusual in club racing. Scumper was in his RS 100 and won on the water and on handicap, though in the second race Peter Whipp in a Laser was a very close 2nd by just 5 secs. Steve/Ruth took 2nd in thd te first race.

Sunday started off with the micro climate that is Bass doing its own thing. Westerly breeze at Bothel, north easterly on the lake, when it filled in. When the course was being set, the lake was sporting a northerly, but soon after some of the fleet rounded the windward mark, but gusts started from the west, and later continued to back to the SW! With no competition in the slow handicap fleet, Bean with Oliver raced with the handicap fleet and was only just pipped to the windward mark by Scumper! The excitement proved too much for Oliver and they subsequently retired. With the beat having disappeared following the windshift, and three races to get in, a shortish race seemed appropriate with the expectation of the wind bedding in over lunch.

The SW breeze, though somewhat shifty, held for the next two races, and it was strong enough for some good close, and spinnaker, reaches. Mike and Eric took 3 wins to win the McMillan Cup in the GPs, while Ian/Lezliann used a first and a second to win the Ullock Mug, with Neil, and a guest appearance from wife Judith, won the other two races in the F15.

Wins in the handicap fleet were shared between Ian Hall, Scumper, and Zefer, with Scumper winning the Grisedale Cup and Zefer 2nd.

Ian Turnbull Rope4Boats will be coming to the Club on Saturday 3rd March 2018 @7pm to to deliver a splicing masterclass. (Session will close at 10pm) This will be a practical session teaching splicing techniques on modern ropes. £5.00 per…